


bonds of fire

by breaktrio



Series: Tales of Blood [1]
Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: First Meetings, Kings and Princes, M/M, Mention of sickness, Mute gouenji, Pirates, day 2 of inazuma fantasy week, dragons and dragon riders, prompt magical creatures / treasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 04:34:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28700778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breaktrio/pseuds/breaktrio
Summary: (day 2 of inazuma eleven fantasy week 2021 / prompt magical creatures or treasure)Endou needs a cure to save the Crown Prince.
Relationships: Endou Mamoru/Gouenji Shuuya
Series: Tales of Blood [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2103825
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	bonds of fire

**Author's Note:**

> day 2!  
> this is the first “snapshot” of this story. basically, from now on all of the fics for the week are going to be set in the same universe and they are going to follow the story in general—in some the story is in background. i hope you enjoy this and the next ones too!

**SOUTH.**

“We can’t fight off that thing!” Tsunami screams to Mamoru as he steers the helm of the ship, gigantic waves hitting the hull, making the ship sway vehemently and half of the crew lose balance. 

“We have to!” Mamoru yells back trying not to fall off and drown in unknown waters. 

“How?!” Tsunami bites back. 

Good question. 

Mamoru can’t see anything, sea water making his eyes burn, bad. He can’t think, either, too busy trying to not let himself or his crew members fall off the ship and die. 

A fire ball almost hits him and Otomura. 

“Fire?!” 

“It’s going to burn us down!” Someoka screams.

Mamoru runs up the deck. 

“It’s a dragon!” Matatagi, the youngest crew member—only seventeen and with so much responsabilites on his shoulders, Tsunami says— screeches from the crow’s nest, “It’s a  _ fire _ dragon and _ someone _ is riding it!” 

Mamoru almost slips as he turns to run back to Tsunami, the situation now too clear in his mind, Yuuto’s words loud and heavy ring into his brain as he remembers the last time they saw each other, almost a month ago. He knows what to do, now, thanks to Hayato.

He hooks a hand on the stairs and the other on Fudou as they both drop back down on the wooden deck because of another fireball. 

“Endou, this is bad,” Fudou says, serious for the first time since their journey began, calling him Endou and not Your Royalty just to irritate him, and failing. 

“I know, I know, I’ll fix it!” Mamoru swears as he tries again to reach Tsunami, not only water in his eyes, but also blood, his forehead cut open after the fall. 

He does it, Tsunami holding him as he sways with the ship, “Any ideas, King Regent?” 

“Surrender.”

Tsunami widens his black eyes, pink hair wet stuck on his face, “You want us to surrender?” 

“It’s the only way, Captain, trust me, please,” he begs and he is supposed to be royalty, here, but he’s desperate enough to kneel down to kiss a pirate’s feet, if he has to. He can’t let down his own Kingdom, he can’t let his godson down.

Tsunami yells to Someoka to raise a white flag.

“I’m trusting you way too much. I didn’t forget you wanted to kill me three weeks ago,” Tsunami hits him on the shoulder, hand too tight on Mamoru’s body and he knows he is scared, this is too much even for the Oumihara’s crew, but Mamoru has to try. Has to fight. 

The dragon stops attacking them. 

Mamoru sighs in relief, his back hitting the mast. He starts to breathe regularly 

“And now what do we do?” Fudou asks, breathing roughly with Matatagi helping him stand upright. 

Mamoru follows the red beast with his eyes. It lands on an island. An island that wasn’t there before, so close they can go there by swimming, beach glowing gold under the shining sun. 

“Now, we go there,” Mamoru points. 

Tsunami grunts, then he orders to drop down the anchor and get the boats ready. 

A small party disembark the Oumihara. Fudou, Matatagi and Tsunami follow Mamoru closely, every single one of them with a different reason hidden behind Tsunami’s orders. 

“What are we looking for?” Matatagi asks.

“It’s big, red and it spits fire,” Fudou answers. 

Mamoru knows he shouldn’t suggest it, but Yuuto’s words still ring inside of his mind, “Let’s split up.”

Tsunami looks at him, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, King Regent.”

“It’s the only way, though.”

Fudou and Matatagi walk off in another direction after Tsunami nods in affirmation. Fudou just raises an eyebrow, but he takes the kid with him, arm around his shoulders as he talks about the weather. 

Tsunami just shakes his head, “Endou, look, I don’t know…”

“I have to talk to them, alone,” Mamoru doesn’t want to lie.

“Why?”

“Yuuto said they have to trust us to give out the cure. I think it’s better if I meet them alone. As a peace offering of sorts. Don’t worry about me, Captain.” 

Tsunami clicks his tongue and huffs out a laugh, “I’m not worrying about you, I’m worried about my payment. If you die here, what do you think Lord Advisor will do to me and my crew?”

“Yuuto will pay you what we owe you. I have to try. For our King.”

Tsunami puts a hand on his shoulder, “For _your_ King.”

“I have to admit, piracy has a good look on you,” Mamoru says, easing the atmosphere between them, and he looks up, meeting Tsunami’s eyes, “But you can do better than that.”

“What? A career in the military?” 

“You could sail the sea with our flag. A privateer,” Mamoru suggests.

“King Regent, go, let’s see if we can survive winged fire spitting dragons first.”

“You are right.”

They separate. 

Mamoru knows about dragons, he saw them when he was younger the first time he sailed away from the Kingdom, blue and green sea serpents traveling alongside the royal ship, but this one was different. 

This one was a Southern Dragon. He heard about them, Yuuto explained them to Mamoru before departing, telling him they were their only chance to save the Crown Prince from dying a horrible death and lose the kingdom to their enemy. 

He did expect to meet them, what he didn’t expect was seeing someone, a person, riding them like they were mere horses. This is different, this is something he doesn’t know how to face. 

Mamoru walks alone in the jungle, using his sword to cut a pathway through it. He can’t hear anything but animals’ sounds and bugs buzzing in his ear. Thorns scratch his skin, cutting his clothes. 

Then, he finally reaches his target. Well, his target reaches him, and Mamoru sees his dagger first, gold catching the sunlight directly and almost blinding Mamoru. Then, he sees the owner of the weapon. The Rider. Dark eyes find his as Mamoru raises his head to meet his attacker. 

“Hello,” Mamoru tries, using his smile to make a good impression.

The other doesn’t reply, long blonde hair falling into his face as his blade digs deeper against Mamoru’s skin. A drop of blood tinges the dagger and then his white shirt.

“Please, don’t kill me before I have the chance to talk to you.”

The stranger arches an eyebrow, but he takes a step back, his dagger back on the belt around his hips, making a clashing sound against the armor on his legs. His chest is bare and against his dark skin there is an enormous inked mark resembling a dragon that covers half of his chest, and Mamoru is sure, it continues behind his back too. 

Before Mamoru can return to breathing normally and start thinking about what to do and what to say and not think about the fact that the stranger is half naked and handsome, in a dangerous way yes, but still handsome and mysterious, the other pins Mamoru’s hands behind his back and the dagger is back against Mamoru’s skin. 

He pushes him, making Mamoru walk for an hour and he is now completely lost, not knowing where he is and how to come back to the Oumihara. 

After a while, they enter a meadow and Mamoru finds himself in front of a dragon, an yellow eye following their movements. As they get close, warm breath reaches Mamoru’s skin, sweat mixing with vapor. 

The dragon that attacked them earlier looks at Mamoru with interest as it raises its head, claws dragging into the soil, ripping grass and flowers with them. Mamoru doesn’t dare to think about what they could do with his skin. 

Red scales cover all of its body and the wings are closed, but Mamoru knows they are bigger than the Oumihara’s sails. On him there is a saddle, brown against red, meaning this man was riding this dragon for real. 

He doesn’t want to get closer to it, but the man has other plans. He pushes him down to his knees, and he’s a few breaths away from the dragon. It keeps studying him and Mamoru does the same, and he knows he doesn’t have a chance of running away. He will survive this only if they decide to let him go. So, he has to make his case and make it work.

Mamoru thinks of the Crown Prince, sweat covering his forehead, tears falling from his eyes, sleep full of nightmares. He needs to do it for him, his own godson, even if it’s the last thing he does. He can die after he saves him. 

“Listen,” he twists his neck to look at the man, “Please.”

The other doesn’t look at him, but at the dragon. It nods and the Rider stops holding Mamoru, rough hands leaving to sit next to the dragon. 

With a gesture of his hand, he invites Mamoru to talk. Or at least Mamoru thinks it’s what he means with the flick of his wrist, his golden bracelets clashing together.

“I’m here to ask for your help. Are you from the Ryu clan?” he asks. He studied for this, he learned all the different names, all Yuuto’s notes on them. 

He just has to work his magic, which it’s charming people and making them trust him. He isn’t going to give up, not now that he is here, in front of them.

Yuuto spent two week inside the Castle’s Library, studying every book in it to find the right cure for the Crown Prince’s curse. And then Ichirouta showed up with a piece of paper telling the story of the Ryu clan and how they had the ability to cure every type of curse and sickness ever known to men. 

Mamoru had to try. He contacted all the doctors, healers, magicians, wizards, witches in the country and no one could help the Crown Prince. The Ryu clan was his last hope, so he hired Tsunami and his crew, pirates waiting inside the castle’s dungeon for their punishment and set sail to the South, still unexplored and dangerous for them. 

He notices how the Rider tenses, the dragon puffing out warm air out its nostrils. 

“Are you? I was looking for you and your clan,” Mamoru insists. 

The other looks up at the dragon, a hand touching its snout. 

“What do you want from us?” and Mamoru is familiar with magic, he is a son of a witch, he has lingering magical powers inside of his blood, but the way the voice feels inside his mind… he never felt this way before, it makes his core and heart shakes and he isn’t listening to a voice, he is feeling it, someways.

“You…” Mamoru murmurs, his eyes on the dragon. 

“My name is Kazan, my friend here is Shuuya.”

Mamoru’s eyes move on Shuuya, hand still on Kazan’s snout and the other on his sword, ready to kill him if he tries something to hurt Kazan, not him. He is willing to die for the dragon. 

“My name is Endou Mamoru,” he gives them back the trust of saying their name, “I came from a faraway kingdom to ask for your help.”

Shuuya’s hand tightens on the handle of his sword. 

Kazan closes one eye, calm in their voice, “We won’t tell you about the treasure.”

“Treasure?” Mamoru hopes they can feel his confusion because he is sure not understanding what’s happening, what they are talking about. 

Shuuya’s eyes widen, he turns towards Kazan and Mamoru can clearly see the ink marks behind his back now, the long tail woven into his spine, and Mamoru comes to the conclusion that he has Kazan marked on his body and his soul. There is mysterious and ancient magic standing in front of him. A bond. Mamoru notices the burned scar under the ink on Shuuya’s body. A bond of fire. 

“The treasure that we protect as the Ryu clan,” Kazan clarifies. 

“I don’t care about no treasure,” he almost yells, nails digging into his skin, in the cuts of his ripped pants after the attack. 

“You… don’t care?” 

“No, I’m here because I’m looking for a cure. For a dark curse,” Mamoru pushes, “I need it for my godson, he’s dying and if I don’t save him everything will fall into darkness.”

Shuuya stands still, weapons forgotten, fingers dirty against red scales. 

Kazan hums. 

Shuuya turns, he walks over Mamoru, kneels in front of him and now Mamoru can see how his eyes are dark brown, not black. He can see a scar on his cheek and the way his eyebrows are cut in half, the frown between them deeper than before. Shuuya pushes back his hair, his long earrings swinging because of the movement, and his hands are on Mamoru’s face. Rough skin, but delicate touches. 

“He is trying to see if you are saying the truth,” Kazan explains. 

Fingers against skin.

“Close your eyes, Endou Mamoru.”

He does as Kazan instructs him. 

Suddenly, he is back into the Crown Prince’s room. Natsumi is shushing him to go back to sleep, Aoi is holding his hand tightly, and Kyousuke is standing guard next to his bed. The Crown Prince smiles weakly as Mamoru enters the room to check on him. 

“Uncle, how’s my Kingdom?” 

“Holding well,” Mamoru answers, and he feels dread and sadness once again at the sight of his godson, pale and weak, and he feels powerless, but still not wanting to give up on him, never giving up on him. 

“You are not lying,” Kazan pronounces and it’s solemn, and Mamoru understands that Kazan isn’t speaking for themselves, but for Shuuya, who looks at him with the same sadness he meets every time he looks into the mirror, “We’ll help you. Shuuya wants to. He understands your need to save someone you love.”

Mamoru breathes without feeling his chest heavy for the first time, “Will you?”

Shuuya gets up and he holds his hand up for Mamoru to take. Mamoru glances at Kazan as they puff out another steam of hot air. 

“We will,” Kazan stands on their four legs, making trees and flowers move as they do, “But you’ll have to come with us to the village and the only way to do it it’s by flying.”

“On your back?” Mamoru turns to look at Shuuya. 

Shuuya nods, hair falling into his face, still holding out his hand for Mamoru to take. 

Mamoru reaches for it, holds it tightly, hopes, worries and everything in between and he knows Shuuya feels it all as he says, “Let’s fly.”


End file.
